Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

 

Active Week – Week 9 has been a very busy week at our school. Children completed activities each and every day; Monday they went on walks, Tuesday they received coaching skills from local club members, they also got to hear about geology, rocks and our UNESCO site along Waterford’s Copper Coast from Tina Keating, co-sponsored by the Irish Heritage Council. Wednesday saw us compete in the Deirdre O’Ryan Blitz in Newcastle, where we were unlucky in the final. We also had ‘Circuits Day’ back at school. Thursday was ‘Inflatables Day’ and the entire event was sponsored by our Parents Association, including the organising of an on-site ice cream van and cone for everyone. Friday was Sports Day, a fun filled day of sports and activities. Even though the weather was inclement at times, we can’t complain, as May and June have been so good for tours and other activities of late. ‘Míle Buíochas’ to all who contributed in any way with the staging of the week’s events, including staff; Mrs Byrne and Mrs Mcgrath who led it, pupils, parents, visitors, and our past pupils who took the time to write, volunteering their assistance on various days, throughout the week. The children also got the chance to practise their percussion skills on the Djembe Drums with Miss Kelly. See our Facebook page for photos of the week.

 

 

Mayoral Visit – We welcomed Mayor of Waterford City & County Council, John O’Leary and his wife to Eileen to our school on Thursday. This was a special occasion, as it was the first time the City and County Mayor of Waterford officially attended our school. John in his role as mayor and public representative for this area, organised Senior Roads Personnel from WC&CC to travel to speak with Board of Management members and himself in an effort to improve Road Safety at our school gate and adjacent intersection. We hope something positive shall come of this visit in the not-too-distant future. We thank the mayor for his cooperation and attendance along with council officials. During his visit, Mayor O’Leary spoke to all pupils and presented ‘Amazing Attendance’ Certificates to some of our pupils. Please visit our Facebook page to see Photos.

 

Open Afternoon – We welcomed our new infant pupils and their families to our ‘Open Afternoon’ on Wednesday last. We will have a cohort of 21 new infants start with us on Wed 30^th August next. We look forward to seeing them again in “Big School”

 

School Reports – All school reports have been posted to all school families today. Attached to the reports, if applicable, are reports from Special Education Team and also a stationery list for all pupils, (bar the current Rg 6.) This list is the sum total of items to be purchased by families for each child attending our school. Reminder; The school will purchase all textbooks, workbooks and copies from the recently issued Dept. of Education Grant. We will no longer collect monies for the Book Rental Scheme from Sept 2023.Token booklists for each class will be published on our website at the end of June, for information purposes only.

 

School Concert DVD – Thanks to Ger McGrath, we have received our hard drive file of our School Concert nights which were held earlier this year. We would like to gauge interest before we transfer them to DVD. If you are interested, please complete the following short survey and we will revert to you, once we know the interest and hence the amount to be charged per unit. School Concert Interest Survey

 

Aladdin Connect – It is hoped to up our school administration package from ‘Aladdin’ to ‘Aladdin Connect’ to allow parents the opportunity of contacting the school in advance of planned pupil absences or following absences. This will reduce to need for absence slips and telephone calls. Parents can check the days missed, look at school reports from 2024 and correspond with teacher. This will be in the form of an ‘App’ which can be downloaded for free. There are other advantages which will become apparent in time and explained fully.

 

Tables & Chairs – Thanks to those who have purchased old tables and chairs from us in the past fortnight. Please contact us if you would like to see what remains on premises. We still have a few yellow and red tables, and some chairs suitable for ages 4-8 years.

 

Last Week of Term. – Reminder. We are closed on Monday next for teacher in-service. On Tuesday, our Rg 6 pupils will venture to the Nire lakes on a class excursion for the last time, learning about history, geography and having fun along the way. Fr Toomey will celebrate an ‘End of Year Mass on Wednesday at 10 am in FMW. Following on from this, Rg 5 will host our Annual Bake Sale at the school at noon and proceeds this year will go to C-Saw. Later that same evening, at 7 pm in the school, we will graduate our Class of 2023 and have some light refreshments for families afterwards. Pupils will go into holiday mode on Thursday next at 12:30 pm while the teachers continue with in-service Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

 

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan.

Principal